Boris Becker’s most memorable Wimbledon moment – 1985

Boris Becker has been telling GiveMeSport about the ten most memorable moments from his time at Wimbledon – now we have come to number one in his list.

Unsurprisingly, 1985 stands out above all other years at the All England Club, as it was where the legend of Boris Becker truly began.

A blond-haired German 17-year-old turned up at SW19 unseeded and largely unheralded, though his name would be spread as the all-action performances he was putting in caught the eye.

Becker had made good early progress year before was engaged in his first real test against 14th seed Bill Scanlon when an ankle injury ended his tournament.

The young man came back with the sense of having unfinished business and if the previous year had been a painful exit, it at least gave Becker the belief that he had the tools to be dangerous on grass.

Despite a game ideally suited to the surface at the All England Club, Becker’s progress was not smooth and only in his second round match did he come through in straight sets.

A man so young does not worry about fatigue, however, so Becker aced and dive volleyed his way through the rounds, combating youthful inconsistency with awesome talent and fantastic physicality.

He made it to the final Sunday and naturalised American, formerly of South Africa, Kevin Curren stood in his way.

Curren could be excused for thinking the final would not be his toughest match of the tournament, having defeated number one seed John McEnroe in the quarter-final and number three seed Jimmy Connors in the semis.

Rightly so, the 28-year-old was heavy favourite going into the match, but Becker had other ideas and his swashbuckling style meant that he had no other mode than attack.

Curren did well to recover from losing the first set and took the second set tie-break, but this was Becker’s day and the elder man could not withhold his verve or boundless energy.

Becker took the third set in a tie-break and was too strong in the forth – he then became then youngest man and the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon.

Whatever happened after 1985 would not matter as Becker’s triumph was history in the making and a legend was born – he knew it as well.

"This is going to change tennis in Germany. I am the first Wimbledon winner and now they have an idol.”

Not only did he change tennis in Germany, he wowed the British crowds and has been one of their favourites ever since.

Watch the historic match point below…

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